​This Conman Scammed Google and Facebook Out of $100 Million

We're all vulnerable to any scammer looking to part a fool from his money, especially in the age of the Internet. However, thanks to reliable spam filters in services like GMail, we're regularly protected from opportunistic email thieves who could otherwise have their hands in our wallets. However, as a recent Fortune investigation proves, even massive, powerful tech companies like Facebook and Google are prey to conniving con artists all over the world. And, sometimes, they fall for the traps hook, line, and sinker. (These are the eight Internet scams you should watch out for.)

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

After it was announced last month by the Justice Department that a man had been able to successfully scam two major tech companies out of $100 million, Fortune went to work on figuring out which companies were the victims of the fraud. As it turned out, they were two of the biggest names in the business.

In 2013, Lithuanian man Evaldas Rimasauskas began impersonating an Asian manufacturing that both Google and Facebook regularly did business with. By forging invoices and other credentials, he was able to convince the accounting departments of these tech titans that they owed him millions and millions of dollars. After two years, the companies finally figured out what was going on. By that time, though, they had already been taken for $100 million. (Worried about other kinds of frauds? Watch out for diet pill scams like this.)

Rimasauskas is now in custody and denies the allegations of fraud. Additionally, much of the money has been recovered for both companies.

"Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation," a company spokesperson told Fortune. A Google representative issued a similar statement.

Obviously, for multi-billion dollar companies like them, this is just a nick in the armor. Still, the fact that they were phished this badly, and for so long, shows that anyone is in danger of a particularly clever thief.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Men's Health participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.